'The person who bought this needs to sign in' error on Xbox, and how to fix it

By Luke Albigés,
At a time like this, when more people than usual are trying to access games across multiple devices in the Xbox family, it stands to reason that more and more people would be running afoul of this annoying interruption. Error 0x82D40007 occurs when your console is unable to verify content access permissions, prompting you to have the person who bought the game sign in. Yet frustratingly, more often than not, they already are.

This error message — 'The person who bought this needs to sign in' — is intended to prevent games downloaded and installed (and therefore 'owned') on a different profile from being launched. But we've been seeing it pop up a lot when swapping between Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One in the last couple of weeks, so we're getting pretty good at resolving the issue and figured we'd share that wisdom with you.

sign in error fix

If you only play on a single console, the easiest fix is to make that your home Xbox. This essentially skips the permission check which causes the error for anything you download on your account to that console. To set this up, jump into the Settings and go to General > Personalisation > My home Xbox and activate it there. That's it. Note that this can only be changed up to five times per year, so it won't help you if you're playing across multiple consoles regularly. It's still worth setting up on what you consider your primary console, mind, since it lets any users access the games and apps you download, as well as allowing them to enjoy the benefits of your Xbox Live account such as online play and store discounts.

If you play across several Xbox devices and are still getting this error, there's a different but equally simple solution. If the error occurs right after you download a game (this was especially common with Game Pass titles for us, notably ones we'd previously played or downloaded elsewhere), hold down the Home button and select the far-right option, 'Restart console.' This reboot is usually enough to get the system to rerun the permission check and find that since you literally just downloaded the game, you're probably entitled to play it. If it's something downloaded by a different user, click the 'See in store' button that pops up under the error message when you try and launch it. The purchase option should instead say 'Launch game,' so give that a click (just in case permission privileges need refreshing), then do the console restart as above after the error pops a second time. You might find you need to restart your router as well as the console if these methods don't work, but we have never needed to — a quick console reboot has always been enough. Some players have also reported simply logging out and back in as a fix, but again, we've always had to do a full restart.

If none of the above works for you, double check that you do in fact have the necessary permissions to launch the game. If it was bought by someone else and the console you're trying to play on isn't that person's home Xbox, you'll have to do what the error message says and have them sign in to play. If it's something like a Game Pass title, make sure that it hasn't been removed from the service by checking either your library or the Game Pass app, and that you currently have a valid subscription. Finally, check the status of Xbox Live, as some games may not launch if the service is offline.
Luke Albigés
Written by Luke Albigés
Luke runs the TA news team, contributing where he can primarily with reviews and other long-form features — crafts he has honed across two decades of print and online gaming media experience, having worked with the likes of gamesTM, Eurogamer, Play, Retro Gamer, Edge, and many more. He loves all things Monster Hunter, enjoys a good D&D session, and has played way too much Destiny.
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